In a landmark moment in the ongoing debate over the role of artificial intelligence in art, Sotheby’s sold the first A.I.-created artwork to ever appear at auction for $1.32 million on Thursday.
It smashed initial estimates of $120,000 to $180,000.
Titled “A.I. God,” it marks the first sale of a work generated by a humanoid robot artist dubbed “Ai-Da Robot.”
“After extensive conversations with prominent collectors at the intersection of art and technology — particularly in the realm of AI — it became clear that demand for this piece is strong,” Sotheby's head of digital art Michael Bouhanna said before the sale.
“The enthusiasm and interest from these collectors, combined with their conviction in the importance of this work within the AI art space, directly influenced my decision to position the pre-sale estimate at a level that reflects its anticipated desirability and market potential."
The portrait depicts Alan Turing, a forefather of modern computing and, fittingly, the namesake for the “Turing Test,” a thought experiment designed to measure the capabilities of A.I. to impersonate natural human intelligence.
Sotheby’s is no stranger to embracing tech-forward art in recent years, as the auction house joined Christie’s as leaders in the institutional art world to auction off NFTs during the height of their popularity and value. As NFTs have lost value and the public attention over the past year or so, the auction house has since appeared to largely pivot from the Web3 vertical it had once proudly touted.
The significance of the sale’s timing cannot be overstated, as the recent proliferation and expected continued acceleration of generative intelligence has become a hot-button issue for artists, writers and journalists, all of whom have expressed concern over the implementation and possible replacement of their roles with A.I.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.